"It's not just free music; it's good music."

Here's something you don't hear everyday! A field recording from the outskirts of Bandung in West Java in Indonesia. "REAK, a ritual from an animistic past clinging to an urban present," according to the liner notes. Music propels the participants into a deep trance, exchanging consciousness for an invisible, wild spirit, a transition from human to animal consciousness. This hour-long sonic journey was captured by Les Cartes Postales Sonores, and this bit of audio ephemera from the other side of the globe is shared below, on its own album page, and on Bandcamp. You can listen below.

From 1 PM to 1 AM, outside on Empire Street and inside AS220, people of all ages will delight in 12 incredible hours of music, art, performance, kid and family-friendly activities, hands-on interactive art experiences from local artists, makers, and like-minded arts and cultural organizations, delectable food and drink, and much more, all highlighting arts, culture, and creativity in Providence and the Ocean State!

We've included some of the tracks from their preview mix below, but you can listen to the full sampler here! You can also listen to previous years' samplers at the AS220 FMA page.

Search 'lofi hip hop' on Youtube and you'll likely find many mixes with "chill/study/relax" in the title, plastered with an anime thumbnail image.

I don't know about you, but from where I am (Singapore), these playlists are EVERYWHERE. Almost everyone I know are either listening to these mixes or a new upload by Majestic Casual.

Because of the popularity of these playlists, Trip Hop (used synomously with Downtempo - though the latter has a cleaner, less 'earthy' sound) is 'Lofi Hip Hop' to the people in this region.

And they are not wrong. Trip Hop pioneers Portishead, for example, record their material to old tape from real instruments, and then sample their recordings rather than recording their instruments directly to a track. Part of its aesthetic is its unabashed use of tape hiss, degraded audio signals and samples of 60s-70s soul/jazz crooners.

We fed our favourite trip hop tracks into our A.I and it resulted in this stunning playlist from the FMA. Enjoy.